Current events involving politics, political office holders, political candidates, world events, local events, crime and other public affairs issues are discussed. Business news items as well as science and technology issues may appear.

Last week, farmers and ranchers began signing up for disaster assistance programs that were restored by the 2014 Farm Bill. While it took a year to implement disaster relief programs after the last Farm Bill was passed in 2008, disaster programs were up and running in just 60 days this time around, thanks to hardworking Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees in more than 2,000 offices across the country. These disaster programs will not replace all of the losses farmers and ranchers faced, but it will provide some relief and help ensure that extreme weather won’t cause families to lose the farm.

After just one week, I am pleased to say that we’ve received more than 10,000 applications for these programs. Approximately 95 percent of the applications were for the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), which provides payments to eligible producers for grazing losses. The high number of applicants is no surprise considering the widespread, ongoing drought that has plagued livestock producers in the West Coast and Midwestern portions of the United States for nearly three consecutive years.

Our livestock producers have waited long enough and we understand the urgent need to provide payments in a timely manner. While the time for application processing and review will vary depending on the complexity and type of loss, the electronic payment and application systems are up and running. Since sign up began last week, we have processed nearly 60 percent of incoming applications and approved payments to help nearly 6,000 producers begin the recovery process.

The program is off to an excellent start, but it doesn’t stop here. We will continue to work through the spring and summer months to assist those who have experienced disaster losses. FSA will provide monthly updates at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov, including data by state, number of applications, and payments issued.

In the coming weeks and months, I encourage farmers and ranchers impacted by drought, snowstorms and other unforeseen weather events to contact their FSA county office to make an appointment and learn if they are eligible for disaster assistance. Depending on the program and year of the loss, you have three to nine months to apply, and FSA staff can tell you what documents and records you will need to apply.

As we move into spring, drought and severe weather events continue to impact farmers and ranchers across the country. Thanks to resources provided in the new Farm Bill and our strong network of partners, I am confident that USDA will be able to offer producers the surety they need to invest confidently in the future and ensure a safe, affordable food supply to millions of Americans for generations to come.

California is the “bread basket” of American agriculture. In 2012, California’s 80,500 farms and ranches produced a record $44.7 billion in produce, dairy, and meats. With more than 400 crop varieties grown in the State, California produces nearly half of all U.S. grown fruits, nuts and vegetables.

To help ensure this basket stays full, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) partners with APHIS Wildlife Services (WS) to address wildlife damage issues to agriculture. Some of the more recent work involves the development of repellents to protect crops from birds.

Birds can cause substantial damage by feeding on newly planted or ripening crops. For example, horned larks damage lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, turnips, and peas; American crows damage almonds; great-tailed grackles eat a variety of citrus crops; and wild turkeys consume an assortment of crops from corn and wheat to strawberries, peanuts, and ginseng. In a recent study, WS economists estimated bird damage to California’s wine grape, blueberry, and cherry crops alone accounted for $64 million in losses each year.

From 2010-2013, WS experts at the National Wildlife Research Center and colleagues at the University of Mississippi and Arkion Life Sciences LLC conducted a series of CDFA-funded studies to test the effectiveness of an anthraquinone-based bird repellent to protect almonds, lettuce, melons, and ginseng from bird damage. Some anthraquinones, which occur naturally in plants, have been reported to cause repellency in some animals. In addition, anthraquinone absorbs near-ultraviolet (UV) light (a portion of the light spectrum not visible to humans) that is visible to birds. This visual cue may facilitate its repellency effect in birds.

In studies with captive horned larks, American crows, great-tailed grackles, and wild turkeys, scientists identified the minimum amount of an anthraquinone-based repellent needed to reduce bird consumption of repellent-treated crops by at least 75 percent. One study also discovered that wild turkeys that ate 100 milligrams of anthraquinone subsequently avoided food treated only with an UV-absorbent cue. Researchers conclude that UV cues could be used to enhance the effectiveness of repellents and, once birds gain experience, could be used to fool them into avoiding UV-treated crops that do not include repellent applications. These studies aid in the development and registration of economically-feasible, safe, and effective bird repellents for use on food crops.

To learn more about WS research related to bird damage to agriculture, please visit our Web site.

Jorge Dubcovsky, professor of plant sciences at University of California–Davis, is co-winner of the 2014 Wolf Prize in agriculture. Photo courtesy of Jorge Dubcovsky

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine. Today we look at USDA support for a researcher striving to improve wheat through developing better disease resistance, nutritional value, and yield.

One of America’s most renowned agricultural researchers, a man who has already collected two of the USDA’s top honors, has now earned international recognition with the Wolf Prize in Agriculture. The Wolf Foundation began awarding six prizes – agriculture, the arts, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and physics – in 1978 to recognize outstanding scientists and artists for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples.

Jorge Dubcovsky, a professor of plant sciences at the University of California–Davis and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute–Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation investigator, is sharing the Wolf Prize with Leif Andersson, from Uppsala University in Sweden. Dubcovsky’s previous awards include USDA’s National Research Initiative Discovery Award and the USDA Secretary’s Honor Award. Dubcovsky will receive the Wolf Prize June 1 at Knesset Israel (the Israeli Parliament) from Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Dubcovsky is a plant geneticist who works with wheat to improve disease resistance, nutritional value, yield, and adaptability to a changing environment. Over the years, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has provided more than $15 million to fund more than 20 of Dubcovsky’s research projects.

“NIFA funding has been the central pillar in the support of my research,” Dubcovsky said. “These grants support critical crop research and crop improvement and provide valuable resources for the public breeding programs to organize themselves at a national level through Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) grants.”

One of his recent NIFA grants is a $5 million Triticeae CAP (TCAP) project to improve barley and wheat germplasm. Triticeae is from the family of grasses that includes wheat, barley, and rye. Wheat products alone account for about 20 percent of calories consumed by humans.

Dubcovsky’s TCAP team used markers to identify the gene variants that control the most desirable of the plant’s traits. They then created a “Triticeae Toolbox” to provide this information to plant breeders so they can develop improved wheat and barley lines. Further, the team is developing a national education network to train 29 doctoral candidates in plant breeding.

TCAP also features collaborations with minority-serving institutions to attract new students to the agricultural sciences, which is important to the professor. “I hope (that the Wolf Prize) will help my program attract brilliant and enthusiastic young researchers,” he said.

As a side benefit, growers of follow-on crops may also profit from Dubcovsky-led wheat research. According to an article published May 14, 2013, in Crop Science, three bread wheat varieties created by TCAP carry a gene that is resistant to root-knot nematodes (plant-parasitic worms). The wheat encourages the nematodes to grow, but the worms cannot eat the wheat. As a result, they starve, do not reproduce, and die out – which allows the next crop to grow in a relatively nematode-free field.

Looking to the future, Dubcovsky – who was born and raised in Argentina and received his bachelors and doctoral degrees in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires – is enthusiastic about employing new high-throughput sequencing technologies. “We will continue pushing hard to complete the sequencing of most wheat genes across our mutant populations,” he said. “We expect to have a public database where people can search for available mutations and then request the seeds. We think this will be a fantastic resource to study gene function in wheat.”

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education, and Cooperative Extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future.

Nutritional research is key to helping millions of Americans achieve healthier lifestyles.

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine, such as using research to inform policy decisions about our nutrition assistance programs, which reach 1 in 4 Americans.

America’s nutrition safety net has a broad reach. SNAP serves millions of hardworking American families, WIC benefits about half of the nation’s infants each year, and the National School Lunch Program touches the lives of about 31 million children every school day, including 21 million low-income children. Because these and other Federal nutrition assistance programs are a critical resource for families seeking a healthy diet with limited resources, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service knows the importance of shaping them with evidence gathered from rigorous research.

Several flagship studies illustrate how FNS uses research to build the knowledge base about our programs and make continuous improvements to meet the highest nutrition standards:

The School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment (SNDA) series goes into schools every five years to determine how well school meals are meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. We use rigorous, validated measures, including 24-hour dietary recalls and menu nutrient analyses, on a nationally-representative sample of schools to build our knowledge base and analyze the nutritional quality of schools meals. Information from these studies helps FNS shape the technical assistance we provide to states and school districts to ensure their meals meet the highest dietary standards. The fifth SNDA study will begin data collection in schools next school year and will provide FNS with a detailed picture of how well schools are meeting updated meal patterns required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Our partnership with the Institute of Medicine ensures that the food packages prescribed in WIC reflect the state of the science for nutrition standards. The latest IOM recommendations form the basis for recently-finalized standards that ensure that nearly 8.6 million women, infants, and children receive supplemental foods each day that directly address their health needs. And we are already launching the next review to keep the packages up-to-date.

Because the WIC packages are designed in part to support breastfeeding – the medically-preferred feeding practice for most infants – FNS launched a study to determine the impact of the packages on that outcome. The findings helped inform nutrition education efforts that align with the food packages to increase breastfeeding rates. And we are currently conducting a nationally-representative study of WIC nutrition education. This will help identify aspects of the program where we could focus additional resources or technical assistance, as well as highlight opportunities for information sharing among states or regions.

We are also seeking innovative approaches to help SNAP participants make healthy choices. The Healthy Incentives Pilot tested the effect of incentives at the point of sale to encourage fruit and vegetable purchases and increase consumption of these healthful foods. Initial findings found that such incentives increased consumption by about 25 percent.

A study we conducted on the effect of SNAP participation looked at SNAP’s role in helping families cope with food insecurity. We found that those who received SNAP for six months reported significantly lower rates of food insecurity. These results were true for households with and without children, and for households in both rural and urban areas, highlighting SNAP’s broad effectiveness. Through research, we were able to confirm that SNAP is working to reduce food insecurity.

These are just a few of the many studies FNS conducts to build the knowledge base to inform and shape these vital programs. Research is essential in achieving FNS’ goals of reducing childhood hunger and improving nutrition in programs with high integrity every day. After all, if a healthier next generation is our aim, knowledge is an important part of that path.

Local media serving ethnic populations can be a powerful source of health information. Two nurses and diabetes educators who have become leaders in the Chinese American community have skillfully used local access cable TV to educate the public about diabetes management.

One tribal community uses the traditional talking circles and encourages physical activity to help members deal effectively with their diabetes and possibly reduce their risk of diabetes in the future.

A senior center serving a diverse population and hoping to increase vegetable intake, worked with local farmers to grow produce traditionally enjoyed by the citizens of Latino descent. The center also educated community members about portion control and healthy food preparation so that those with diabetes could understand how important a healthy diet is for controlling diabetes and how they can change their own diets.

This month’s Midwest tribal forum brought together USDA state and national officials, including Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, to promote the growth of healthy food systems for Native Americans. The annual Food Sovereignty Summit was held at the Oneida Nation in Green Bay, Wis.

Deputy Secretary Harden’s speech to attendees of the summit focused on the implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill. She said that young people need to be encouraged to make a living off the land. She also told the tribal community that USDA is here to assist and that we have a common goal of feeding the next generation. Deputy Secretary Harden is particularly focused on providing resources for new farmers and Native Americans well into the future.

To mark the importance of this summit, Deputy Secretary Harden, accompanied by USDA Director of Tribal Relations Leslie Wheelock, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, visited with representatives of the Oneida and Menomonie Nations. They witnessed firsthand the tribe’s efforts to promote the production and consumption of traditional, healthy foods.

While in Wisconsin, Deputy Secretary Harden received a tour of Oneida’s food distribution program, which, through USDA, supports over 230 Native families. She also stopped by the cannery and later met with staff and students of the College of Menominee Nation.

“It was an honor and privilege to have Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden visit the Oneida Reservation and attend the Food Sovereignty Summit. Together we discussed the need to reconnect with the land so that we can achieve the best use of the land and agriculture in addressing the problems we face. I appreciate how she understands that the land can fulfill our needs – health and well-being, economic and business growth – while maintaining our culture,” said Gregory H. Matson, Vice Chairman of the Oneida Tribe.

Before Deputy Secretary Harden spoke at the Food Sovereignty Summit, she toured the Wayside Dairy Farm in Greenleaf, Wis., a multi-generational farm run by Dan Natzke and his family. The dairy utilizes programs through both the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service. The 151 year-old farm is now in its fifth generation of operation.

Deputy Secretary Harden’s message on the importance of new farmers, especially in the tribal community, really resonated with the group. We were proud to host her and look forward to her return to the Badger State!

The Census of Agriculture is conducted every five years and USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) spends that time planning, preparing, and executing the Census. But that’s only a part of the Census process. Once we gather and process the data, we have to make sure the results are easily accessible and understood by the public.

Until recently, there was no readily-available public data showing the entry points of U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico, modes of transportation, or how product were used at their final destination. Now, a USDA partnership with Texas A&M scientists provides insight into the movement of products from the U.S. to Mexico. Photo by Michael Matalis.

Driving down a rural road, admiring the expansive fields of corn and soybeans, I stopped at a rail crossing to wait for what seemed like an endless train of cars filled with grain. My idle mind wondered, where are all those tons of grain headed, where was its final destination? For anyone else, it may just be curiosity. But for me and those who work in my division within USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), it’s our job to answer those questions.

We understand that for stakeholders within the agricultural industry—farmers, grain mill operators, shippers and exporters—the answers are critical. Sound business decisions require knowledge about what is happening with the transportation of agricultural products, both in the domestic and international marketplace.

The past 5 years have seen record agricultural exports, and expanding those market opportunities for American exports is vital to the continued success of our farmers, ranchers, and agricultural businesses. Mexico is one of largest recipients of U.S. agricultural exports, including an average of 22.2 million metric tons (mmt) of U.S. grains, oilseeds, and related products per year from 2008 to 2012. The average annual value of those exports to Mexico is $7.3 billion. This continued trade growth has prompted interest in how these products are transported throughout Mexico.

Until recently, there was no readily-available public data showing the entry points of U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico, modes of transportation, or how product were used at their final destination. That’s why AMS partnered with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Transportation Institute scientists to track U.S. grain, oilseed and related product exports in Mexico. Now agricultural businesses can find a summary of the study on movements of these products in Tracking U.S. Grain, Oilseed and Related Product Exports in Mexico(Summary (.pdf) or Full Report (.pdf).

AMS has been gathering agricultural transportation data for decades. It produces a wide array of publications that are available to everyone on its agricultural transportation website, including Study of Rural Transportation Issues that is currently being updated. The publications include on-going research and analysis allowing researchers, growers, distributors, and exporters to determine trends, calculate projections, and make informed decisions. Much of the data, including prices, deliveries, movements, sales, and freight rates, is available through market reports, such as the weekly Grain Transportation Report issued every Thursday.

Answering the question of how American agricultural products are transported to market is important. AMS provides data on the four major transportation modes– trucking, railroads, barges, and ocean vessels– used to move food from farms to our tables and to ports for export.

That train did finally clear the rail crossing, and I continued on my journey—and so did all those cars full of grain.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Prepare your home and family for wildfire season. Click to enlarge or download.

With yet another busy fire season around the corner, the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE and the U.S. Fire Administration decided to take to social media and talk about America’s PrepareAthon!, which is a nationwide, community-based campaign for action to increase emergency preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific drills, group discussions and exercises conducted at the national level every fall and spring. Wildfire experts will be ready to answer any questions that range from how to help protect your home from wildfire to what the wildfire season forecast looks like this year.

Drought conditions in the West, especially in California, combined with other factors portend a dangerous fire season that now could start at any time. Last year, 34 wildland firefighters died in the line of duty as fire ravaged 4.1 million acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes around the Nation. This year the U.S. Forest Service has more than 10,000 firefighters who stand ready as well as aircraft and engines deployed around the country. Should that call be received, these firefighters and the tools that they use are ready to spring into action.

Join U.S. Forest Service Fire Director Tom Harbour, a 45-year veteran of the Forest Service, CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott and FEMA U.S. Fire Administration Fire Program Specialist Teresa Neal for a Twitter chat aimed to empower communities with the information needed to remain prepared for what might be a longer and more severe wildfire season in an era of changing climates.

Tune into Twitter @forestservice and follow #PrepareAthon on Friday, April 25 at 11am EDT (8am PST) to hear from experts in the field about how YOU can prepare your family and community if wildfire strikes.

And speaking of prevention, this year also marks another significant milestone in the wildland firefighting arena: Smokey Bear turns 70. Given that 9 out of 10 fires in California are still caused by humans, it is clear that Smokey cannot afford to slow down in his golden years.

A member of the Geronimo Interagency Hotshot Crew, Department of the Interior (DOI) Indian Affairs (IA) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) San Carlos Agency in Arizona; on assignment. The combined effects of droughts and insects may lead to a pulse of tree mortality that increases the potential for intense fires. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

The climate statistics for the first month of 2014 have been impressive. Extreme weather has lashed the United States from Alaska to Florida with record warmth, cold, dry and wet conditions all at the same time. The National Climatic Data Center reports that January of 2014 was the driest January on record for New Mexico, 2nd driest for Arizona and 3rd driest for California. January 2014 was also in the top ten of coldest Januaries on record for much of the upper Midwest.

Extreme drought conditions in the western U.S. are dramatically impacting water supplies critical to agriculture and elevating fire risk across our National Forests. Across the continent frequent cold waves have repeatedly threatened winter crops across the Southeast while frost depths reaching several feet will impact springtime planting across the Midwest. This kind of winter gets everyone talking about the weather. It brings to mind the quote “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” often attributed to Mark Twain (but apparently said by a friend).

What can we do about the weather? Not much directly, but we can plan and prepare for the worst and try our best to anticipate what is coming through forecasts. Our best climate science indicates that extreme weather is something we should get used to and learn how to work with. America’s agricultural systems and vast and precious natural resources are intimately tied to weather and climate and will need to further adapt to these extremes. This is where the newly created effort of organizing USDA resources and partners into Regional Climate Hubs plays a role, supporting farmers, ranchers and resource managers’ efforts to better manage risk in a changing climate.

There is a secret weapon in this effort, one that is a uniquely American invention. This weapon is equipped with 100 years’ experience in supporting agriculture and natural resources management through climate extremes like the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s all the way up to the Midwest floods of the early 1990’s and recent west-wide drought of the past decade. The Smith-Lever Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson 100 years ago this year, created the U.S. Cooperative Extension System, a distributed network of local level experts connected to each state’s land grant university that work to connect science and decision making. This translates to a local level expert in almost every county that anyone can to turn to for ‘useful, practical and research based information’. Farmers, ranchers and resource managers will undoubtedly need new science and technology to adapt to a changing climate, but they will also simply need someone they trust of whom they can ask questions and learn about new opportunities…an ‘honest broker’ of cutting edge, research based information. Extension Agents and Specialists have served in this role for 100 years and as a key part of the USDA Regional Climate Hub effort are ready to help their clientele meet the emerging challenges of a changing climate.

I have spent the last decade in Arizona as an Extension Specialist working solely on climate issues and know the challenges that weather extremes from droughts to floods can pose to producers and resource managers. We will certainly still continue to talk about the weather on a regular basis, but our conversations in Extension and through the Hubs will also turn to what we can do about it as well.

Two Forest Service rangers walk through the snow covered paths at Lolo National Forest in Montana on November 22, 2007. Lolo National Forest is located in west central Montana and encompasses two million acres. USDA photo.

It has been 88 years since the hammers and crowbars went silent. Sweat ran for more than a month as teams of workers smashed and destroyed Los Angeles’s original buildings between First, Temple, Spring and Main streets.

Construction began in the 1850s, and these buildings quickly became known as the cradle for an infant city. The footprint is now buried deep below present day Los Angeles City Hall and its adjacent park. It was not until March 2014 that local historians were reminded of this past for the second largest city in the United States.

It started last fall when a soil survey team from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) began to dig a soil pit in City Hall Park adjacent to city hall, as part of the agency’s soil survey.

But today, more and more people in urban areas, like Los Angeles, are realizing the importance of understanding and protecting soil. Los Angeles city managers intend to use the completed survey data for their future planning and development.

While collecting soil samples, NRCS scientists unearthed the first three feet of material, nothing out of the ordinary struck them from a typical soil dig in an urban center. But they dug a little deeper and discovered something extraordinary.

“At first glance, I thought we had unearthed crushed up brick material, which is common of anthropogenic soils in urban areas,” said Randy Riddle, NRCS soil survey project leader. “After digging a slightly larger hole to get a better view, we noticed that whole red bricks were leveled horizontally. The oriented brick layer was continuous throughout the bottom of the excavated area.”

The discovery led to consulting with a number of local historians to identify what the group found. At first thought, it seemed like the red bricks made up an old brick road now buried deep.

But after multiple discussions with historians and looking at dated pictures of the exact spot, it turns out the bricks constituted a subfloor for a former dentist’s office that boasted painless teeth extractions for a mere 50 cents.

The dentist’s office was one of the final tenants in the Lichtenberger Building, located on the corner of First and Main streets, and destroyed in 1926 to make way for the city hall complex.

In a photograph provided by the University of Southern California Libraries Special Collections staff, it is easy to determine where the soil pit was in relation to which business occupied that space years ago.

“The big block that City Hall now sits on, including the park, was formerly chockablock with groceries, haberdasheries, etc.,” said Brent Dickerson, historian and author of books about Los Angeles history and other subjects. “The buildings were usually raised above ground level, so that water from the street wouldn’t flow in, and the sub-structural floor wouldn’t need to be very deep to be below the ground floor.”

This determination was amplified further when discussing the find with a representative for Los Angeles’s Project Restore. “Red brick would have been for the foundations, red pavers would have been floors or walkways, and black would have been alleys or streets,” said Kevin Jew, chief operating officer for Project Restore.

Project Restore is a Los Angeles organization dedicated to the restoration and maintenance of valuable city buildings, preserving these landmarks in order to maintain the culture and history that reside within them.

Construction of Los Angeles City Hall required more than just demolishing many of the city’s first buildings. First, Temple, Spring and Main streets actually formed a triangle until 1926 and were reshaped into a rectangular configuration. It took two years to construct City Hall, and it remained the tallest building in Los Angeles until 1964.

“The Temple Block anchored a bustling commercial area until the mid-1920s,” said Nathan Masters, who has written extensively on Los Angeles history on behalf of the USC Libraries. “Then, construction of L.A.’s new Civic Center erased entire city blocks of old brick buildings and other historic structures from the map. The Temple Block crumbled, Spring Street straightened itself out to become parallel with Main, and the city’s old commercial heart beat no more.”

The soil survey for the southeastern section of Los Angeles County, which includes downtown Los Angeles, has been a recent endeavor for NRCS’ soil scientists. The rest of Los Angeles County was mapped over the past 60 years but downtown Los Angeles remained elusive until now.

With the proper permissions from city officials, Riddle has a long road ahead to complete his urban soil mapping for this massive city. It will be interesting to see what other treasures Riddle unearths down the road.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

If you’ve flipped on network TV in recent months, odds are you’ve caught a disturbing commercial featuring a carload of teens that turns from happy to tragic in a split second. The campaign aims to discourage teen texting and driving, and data suggests now is the best time to do so.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Steve Etka with the National Organic Coalition provides input during the listening session. The session gave USDA the opportunity to hear from stakeholders about their priorities during the implementation process and the impact that the new provisions will have on their communities.

Organic agriculture serves as an engine for rural development, representing a $35 billion industry in the United States alone. USDA is committed to protecting the integrity of organic products, and ensuring that all of our agencies work together to help the organic sector continue to grow.

Members of the organic community are important partners in these efforts. As Administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which includes the National Organic Program, I have had the privilege of getting to know our organic stakeholders – visiting their farms and talking to them about their priorities – and I have been very impressed. Thanks to the recently passed Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), USDA is now even better equipped to support the success of organic operations.

Just this week, USDA hosted a stakeholder listening session on the organic provisions of the Farm Bill. The session gave us the opportunity to hear from stakeholders about their priorities during the implementation process and the impact that the new provisions will have on their communities. We had a great turnout with over 80 participants, ranging from researchers to consumers.

At the listening session, representatives from ERS, NASS, RMA, FSA, NRCS, NIFA, and AMS, as well as the Office of the Secretary, gave an overview of the new provisions and our implementation plans before opening the session to participants. We got some great feedback with a common theme – the importance of communication, outreach, and strategic partnerships. Stakeholders also noted the benefits of interagency coordination and urged USDA to continue supporting the Organic Working Group which is led by Mark Lipson.

Many stakeholders were excited about the Farm Bill’s expanded funding for the Organic Certification Cost-Share Programs, which help organic producers and handlers cover the cost of organic certification, making organic certification more accessible to small producers. Listening session participants also emphasized that for the program to be successful, USDA needs to educate the organic community about the opportunity for assistance and partner with stakeholders to get the word out – we couldn’t agree more!

We also heard from stakeholders about the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). They were thrilled that the Farm Bill provides additional research grant funds to address issues that affect organic production, and they again asked that we conduct outreach and training on this program.

This exciting Farm Bill provision will allow USDA to expand and improve on our economic and market data about organic agriculture. Some participants asked that we conduct more organic production surveys. USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reported that more frequent production data is in the works, and that the agency hopes to provide annual updates thanks to a partnership with USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Stakeholders were especially appreciative of the collaboration between AMS, ERS, NASS, and the Risk Management Agency to provide additional price elections that will improve crop insurance options available to organic growers.

As we work to efficiently and effectively implement all of the new programs and policies, we will keep reaching out to our stakeholders and encouraging partnerships. In the cases where we need to do notice and public comment, I hope you’ll all pay close attention and give us your constructive thoughts on how we can all work together to support organic agriculture.

A Washington State University-led research team member works on the prototype microwave assisted pasteurization system (MAPS) unit. MAPS allows packaged foods to be safely processed more quickly and at lower cost than conventional processes. Photo courtesy of Washington State University.

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine, like innovative ways to make food safer.

More than 90 percent of American households have microwave ovens where people heat their food, yet this same technology is seldom used for large-scale production in the food industry.

As home cooks know, microwave ovens do not excel at heating food evenly. The lack of commercial-scale microwave processing technology is, in part, due to the challenge of designing equipment that is capable of pasteurization – heating all of the food evenly to a predetermined temperature for a certain length of time. Pasteurization makes food safe to eat, by inactivating bacterial and viral pathogens that can make people sick.

Food safety is the top priority for the food industry and has long been one of the priority research areas for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). With the help of a $5 million grant from NIFA, a team of scientists and engineers led by Washington State University (WSU) have developed an innovative, pilot-scale microwave assisted pasteurization system (MAPS) to rapidly and evenly heat packaged food products. The team included University of Tennessee, North Carolina State University, the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Eastern Regional Research Center.

The prototype is a 915 MHz microwave that processes foods that are both safe and of high quality. Initial results show that the quality of microwave-pasteurized foods, such as mussels, shrimp, and tofu, is better than using conventional thermal processing methods.

An additional benefit to this technology is that microwave heating time is shorter than conventional thermal processing, and the shorter time means producing higher food quality at lower energy output and cost.

Food companies can now use MAPS to test a wide range of food products and adapt the technology to suit their needs. WSU anticipates licensing this technology to a start-up company, Food Chain Safety, for commercialization in the coming months.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education, and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues that impact people’s daily lives and the nation’s future. More information is available at www.nifa.usda.gov.

The 2014 Farm Bill has already set in motion and accomplished so much for our country. With historic support for specialty crop producers across the country, the bill will touch every one of our lives through one of the most basic of human needs: food.

Specialty crops make up the bulk of what we eat—all of our fruits and vegetables, tree nuts and dried fruits—as well as things like cut flowers and nursery crops. They are half of MyPlate at every meal, and the daily source for most of our vitamins and nutrients. For many in rural America, these crops not only provide nutrition, they are also a primary source of income.

For nearly a decade, USDA supported specialty crop growers across the country through the Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program. These grants enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, sustain the livelihood of American farmers, and strengthen rural economies.

Last year, the program provided $55 million for 700 state-selected projects nationwide that contributed to food safety improvements, increased access to healthy food, and provided new research to help growers increase profitability and sustainability. The new farm bill expands support through the SCBG program to more than $66 million in grants for specialty crop growers—a historic high.

With projects focusing on everything from food safety to business planning, the block grants are designed to increase the long-term success of producers and broaden the market for specialty crops. Many states select projects that dovetail with community needs, such as establishing farm to school programs, providing training in good agricultural handling practices (GAP), creating organic and sustainable production practices, and developing food hubs that will increase opportunities for small-scale growers.

In Michigan, a 2009 grant helped the state Department of Agriculture and Resource Development work with partners to increase sales opportunities for specialty crop farmers in Southeast Michigan. They were able to identify and overcome barriers that prevented schools from purchasing products directly from local farmers, and ended up increasing the sales of apples, cucumbers, peppers, red potatoes, broccoli and several other crops within their state.

Another grant in Idaho established a partnership between the state Department of Agriculture and Boise State University-Tech to provide workshops that helped improve food safety and implement sustainable production practices for onions, potatoes, apples, cherries, peas and lentils. The project resulted in higher audit scores, increased efficiency and sustainability for participating companies, which both improve consumer confidence and help producers’ bottom lines in the long run.

Our dedication to strengthening rural America and increasing opportunities for specialty crop farmers will help keep our nation’s economy—and people—healthy for years to come.This week, we made the next round of SCBG funds available so that states can begin funding projects. If you’re interested in applying, I encourage you to contact your state department of agriculture. You can find more information atwww.usda.gov/farmbill.

For Christians around the world, this week is holy, special, sacred, set apart. It marks events of crucial significance in the history of the Christian faith: • Maundy Thursday – the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion. • Good Friday – the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. • Holy Saturday – the day Jesus’ body lay in the tomb between Friday and Sunday. • Easter Sunday – the Festival of the Resurrection of our Lord from the grave.

The early church and liturgical churches today call the three days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday the triidium, the intent of which is to signify the walk with Jesus through the darkest hours of his life. The conclusion of the triidium is the celebration of the glory and miracle of the resurrection on Easter Sunday morning!

Terry and I pray for each of you a blessed Holy Week. We, like many of you, will attend services of worship this week that will renew in our hearts an ever growing appreciation for the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

At the end of the day, at the end of our life here on earth, what really matters, eternally, is made possible and provided for believers in Christ through the events of this Holy Week!

The peace of the Lord be with you!

Dr. Gerald B. (Jerry) Kieschnick

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism- Eph. 4:5

For previous issues of Perspectives go to www.jerrykieschnick.wordpress.com

Agriculture Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Service (FFAS) Michael Scuse (left) speaks to farmers about the drought conditions being felt across the country.

This is the final post of a Microloan Success feature series on the USDA blog. To see previous blogs, go to the Microloan Success feature series.

I’ve got one of the best jobs in the country, hands down. As Under Secretary for the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, I get to meet with – and talk to – farmers and ranchers across America every day. These hard working men and women, and their families are the backbone of U.S. agriculture. Their dedication and commitment inspire me.

It’s an honor to be able to service these agricultural heroes through the programs we offer at the Farm Service Agency (FSA). When severe weather devastates our nation’s cropland, FSA is there helping producers recover.

This week I had the opportunity to meet with and talk to farmers and ranchers in South Dakota and Missouri as part of our disaster assistance sign-up effort. Now, thanks to the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill, we’re able to offer help to producers who have suffered through two and a half difficult years with no assistance because these programs were awaiting Congressional action. Working with local farmers and ranchers coming in to sign-up, I heard a lot of stories that demonstrated the tenacity and pride of each producer and their family. I wasn’t surprised.

For the past few weeks, we shared some of their stories. Like Kim and Jeff Essig of Kentucky, family farmers who were able to expand their blueberry operation with USDA Microloan. Or beginning farmers — and brothers — William and Thomas Anderson of South Carolina, who used a Microloan to purchase a grain bin after local and commercial lenders wouldn’t take a chance on two young farmers. They join thousands of men and women across the U.S. who are taking steps to launch farming operations or expand their current operation with the help of USDA’s Microloan program. The program allows beginning, small and mid-sized farmers to access up to $35,000 in loans using a simplified application process with up to seven years to repay.

FSA’s Microloan and disaster assistance programs are just two of many services that we offer the men and women, and families who provide food, fiber and fuel to millions of Americans and billions of people around the world. In many ways, they are the lifeline for the growth and success of the American people.

And while it’s not enough, it is important to say thank you to our country’s farmers and ranchers — large and small. Thank you . . . for all that you do.

Cattle graze on a farm in Benton County, Mississippi. Cattle and calves ranked as the top livestock inventory item for the Benton County in the previous census of agriculture – what will the 2012 Census results reveal? (Photo courtesy of Dennis Garner)

The Census of Agriculture is the most complete account of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Every week USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will highlight new Census data and the power of the information to shape the future of American agriculture.

The final 2012 Census of Agriculture release is just around the corner. My passion for Census data is rooted not only in the benefits the Census results provide for agriculture as a whole, but also in the value it provides at the local level. To help you see and share all the ways Census data are working for you, USDA is kicking off a dialogue to share how the Census is working for you and your community.

My Census Story begins in Benton County, Mississippi. I grew up on a small livestock and row crop farm in Benton County. Like the trends in farming that continue today, I left the family farm to go to college. After graduation, I joined USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

At NASS, I maintained my roots in agriculture by collecting and providing ag data to all those who serve farmers and rural communities. Through the Census, I worked directly with the farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses and community based organizations (CBOs) that rely on the information that only the Census provides.

For the 2012 Census of Agriculture, I personally visited many of these local organizations across the country and listened to their stories about how the Census can help the people and communities the CBOs represent. From CBOs in the West who depend on the data to improve production and rural services in their communities, to agribusinesses in the East who depend on the results to improve facilities and diversify marketing options in their areas.

Regardless of which county or community you represent, the real impact of the Census can be found at the local level. When the 2012 Census data are released all the way to the county level, I will look at what has happened in Benton County, where my passion for agriculture began.

I will also look at how I can continue to use census data to serve agriculture off the farm, just as I did when I ventured away from the farm many years ago. I will ask, “How can I continue to empower others with Census data to help benefit farmers, ranchers, and rural communities?” This is my Census Story.

Over the last few decades, food safety has been marked by profound social, economic and political evolutions and technological breakthroughs such as 3D printing of food and the adoption of laboratory testing for pathogens. Laboratory testing for pathogens continues to evolve with the advancement of genome sequencing. However, there is always more to do. There is a potential for advancing existing and promoting greater gains in the future.

What if there were more apps that could allow farmers, producers, consumers and stakeholders access to USDA data? The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posts a variety of reports using data collected while inspecting and testing meat and poultry products, but more and more, people want direct access to the information. For instance, what if a consumer could walk into a grocery store, scan a product, and instantly know where it was produced or where it was farmed? What if a farmer had an app that directly informed them about crop forecasting or crop variations? What if people and organizations who would never have had the opportunity before could individually and collectively mash up data in unique and exciting ways, leading to new opportunities to solve complex problems? The potential is endless as more tools are becoming available.

Liberating data in machine and human readable formats is a 21st century way of sharing information. By sharing data and the tools to analyze it, people can develop new insights and applications to help themselves. For agriculture, shared research can move us all closer to addressing the global food demands on the horizon. Our food and agricultural challenges have no borders and neither should our data. At USDA, we recognize the importance of communities collaborating and generating ideas. Open data in agriculture allows us to pool our existing resources while pioneering fresh, new approaches to tackle the global challenges that lie ahead.

One of the USDA data sets published this quarter offered Salmonella and Campylobacter datasets for the first time. FSIS is dedicated to reducing Salmonella as seen by the Salmonella Action Plan, as well as committed to being transparent. “The Food Safety and Inspection Service recognizes the value in public data access and sees this dataset as an important step in that direction. We’re interested to see how the public uses this dataset to help keep food safe and prevent foodborne illnesses,” said Christopher Alvares, Director of FSIS’ Data Analysis and Integration Staff.

Citizens can realize considerable value if more open policies, specifically Open Data, become more widely adopted throughout our agencies. In a recent study published by McKinsey, in which it examined the anticipated impact of Open Data across seven domains (education, transportation, consumer products, electricity, oil and gas, health care, and consumer finance), it found that Open Data could contribute a minimum of $3 trillion in additional value annually. So for areas of economic struggle, or where there is an emphasis on revenue generation and job creation, Open Data could lead to new opportunities across a number of industries and, by extension, across their societies as a whole.